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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24036751">Ataashi</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru'>inquisitor_tohru</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of Thedas [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Corypheus (Dragon Age) Being an Asshole, Dragons, Gen, Named Adaar (Dragon Age), Qunari and Dragons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:34:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>432</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24036751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/pseuds/inquisitor_tohru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hretha wished she could summon that kind of enthusiasm when it came to her own heritage, but she felt no connection to her ancestors. At one time she might have said that it was because she was raised by Tal-Vashoth, and was at once qunari and not qunari. </p><p>But that wasn't the whole story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of Thedas [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733935</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ataashi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>With the back of her hand, Hretha Adaar wiped the last of the vitaar from her face, and pulled her mage's cowl over her horns. She had earned the trust of Inquisitor Cadash, but many of Skyhold's inhabitants were still wary of a qunari agent. She wasn't like Bull, already associated with the Chargers and able to fall back on his easy charm. She'd hoped to find kinship with the Inquisition mages, but her brand of magic was strange and frightening to them. The distinction between mages who drained the blood of slaves and a qunari who used her moon blood to augment her abilities was apparently one they were unable (or unwilling) to make.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She walked through the castle's halls with her back bent like a much older woman's, making her appear shorter than she was. She tilted her head slightly as she passed two dwarves restoring one of their people's ancient mosaics, but couldn't yet see the story that played out across the tiles. Every time she walked by they seemed to be working on a new sequence - one of the Inquisitor's particular interests, it seemed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hretha wished she could summon that kind of enthusiasm when it came to her own heritage, but she felt no connection to her ancestors. At one time she might have said that it was because she was raised by Tal-Vashoth, and was at once qunari and not qunari. But that wasn't the whole story.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Your blood is engorged with decay, your race is not a race, it is a mistake</span>
  </em>
  <span>!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Corypheus had been trying to rattle her during the battle, as she'd struggled against the wind and the rain to aim the trebuchet. He'd succeeded. But she still had a job to do - to bring that godforsaken dragon down where the Inquisition's swords and spells could reach it. Corrupted as it was by the red lyrium, she felt some measure of compassion for the creature. Dragons were intelligent beings, dangerous if angered, yes, but also capable of great tenderness towards one another. The red lyrium dragon's song was one of sorrow, and a swift death was the only mercy they had to offer. This was the thought Hretha clung to in that moment, as she pushed Corypheus' taunts aside, and took aim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, her eyes searched the Herald's Rest, settling on the man she'd come to meet. He grinned at her over a mug of </span>
  <em>
    <span>kasaanda </span>
  </em>
  <span>cider and patted the stool beside him in invitation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So," Bull said, with more than a hint of excitement in his voice, "you want to talk about </span>
  <em>
    <span>dragons.</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p>
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